‘Arthur works somewhere between the figurative and the semi-abstract. He engages with the formal problems that arise in the process of looking, in its broad sense, to attempt to make something that is a coherent painting.’
‘Prolonged, procrastinated messy chaos… just occasionally organised chaos.’
- ARTHUR NEAL
ARTHUR NEAL - 70 +
The title also references his youth of 70+, and also that there will be 70+ works!
"One of the delights of Linden Hall Studio, is the ever growing and changing audience that evolves with it. Some of them regular, some come and go with the seasons, some are strangers who become regular faces - before slipping away toward their next creative cove.
The people who visit us, engage with us, are all at different moments in their lives. Yet, anyone can be the solo, thoughtful viewer - quietly pondering the walls and plinths every few weeks, sometimes nodding, sometimes frowning, yet always willing.
Always looking.
For me, it’s finding these consistencies across our viewers that provides the greatest insight into the human condition. Is there a constant in all of us? Possibly not. However, the closest I have seen in terms of the visual arts, is the response
frequently triggered when viewing paintings by Arthur Neal.
Of course, all the hallmarks of good painting are applied: a thoughtful hand, a fine tuned eye, the combining of colour, shape, form, texture, culminating in a deeply satisfying resolution within the final image.
Yet an Arthur Neal triggers something more in the viewer.
Their pause, their look, their tilt of the head. The eye has been hooked and caught - then often, out of nowhere, a connection is made.
Arthur's ability with paint demands our attention. Yet not with aggression, painterly trickery, blasts of pure colour or daunting scale - but with making a subtle and powerful energy source ooze out of the oil. Slowing the viewer down, controlling the interaction at its own pace, inviting us in and holding our attention whilst it tells us all it wants to say; until the next look.
Whether it be a garden view, the female figure, a still life or abstracted form, there is an emotive response within the precise application of his strokes and scrapes. Perhaps the triggering of a nostalgic memory from a moment gone by, recognising the raw feeling in the face or posture of a delicate form, the dreamlike quality of an abstracted landscape. Arthur's paintings draw the individual close, catalyse the feeling of being somewhere, or seeing something once before. The recreation in paint of warmth and wonder, providing a handhold as an old friend only could.
It’s me and you. Now, what’s next?
For all of us at Linden Hall Studio, it’s a privilege to continue to show Arthur’s work, and a delight to be holding this very special exhibition."
Myles Corley
Gallery Director Linden Hall Studio
